“Very Grave”—Such is the description of the situation in Palestine recently given by the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Malcolm Macdonald. Troops are being drafted into the country and strong repressive measures are being used but still the trouble continues. This is not lessened by the influx of Jews from other countries. The cruel measures adopted by the Nazis of Germany and the Fascists of Italy are not only causing trouble among themselves but among other nations also. What the end of it all will be is known only to the Lord Himself.
Mussolini and the Pope.—It would appear that all is not going well between the Italian leader and the Pope. The Observatore Romano, the official organ of the Vatican, expresses anxiety about the laws on marriage decreed by the Fascist Grand Council. Possibly the Pope will get over these difficulties and get Mussolini to toe the line before he goes too far. The erratic impulsiveness of the Duce must be causing the Pope grave anxiety and between the Nazis and the Fascists the papal foreign office has its hands fairly full.
Nazis and Roman Catholics.—The strong feeling between the Nazis and “Catholic Youth” members in Vienna ended in blows and a state of unrest is the order of the day at the time of writing. Cardinal Innitzer has evidently been critising the Nazis rather strongly. Later on the Cardinal’s palace was attacked. We have no sympathy either with the Nazis or the Roman Catholics—both are open and avowed enemies of the true Christian faith. Nazism and Roman Catholicism are sailing in a different boat and unless the Vatican, by some tortuous move, hits on a policy of reconciliation, they are bound to clash some day.
The Folly of Inclusivism.—This is the title of the address delivered at the opening exercises of Westminster Theological Seminary and reported in the Presbyterian Guardian (Philadelphia, U.S.A.) We hear a great deal of the dangers of exclusivism, and certainly there are dangers connected with it, but it is a very rare thing to hear anything said against the danger of inclusivism. The atmosphere of universal charity in which the bulk of professing Christians live is not conducive to cultivation of exclusivism and blinds the eye to the faults of inclusivism. The Rev. Robert S. Marsden in his address says: “An Inclusivist may be conveniently defined as one who believes and accepts everything, and inclusivism is as old as sin. Our text tells us: ‘They feared the Lord, and served their own gods.’ This is the description of the religious condition of the inhabitants of Samaria after the conquest; heathenism reigned supreme in Israel, and there was no worship of the Lord . . . . The rulers attributed the failure of heathenism to the fact that it was the Lord’s land, and consequently He should be recommended. They therefore imported a priest of God into the land, who taught the people to fear the Lord and who seemed to be content with establishing the Lord as one of the gods of the land.” Inclusivism is well known in Scotland, even in quarters where one would not expect to find it.
The British Press and the Lord’s Day.—According to reliable information there are sold each morning about 13 million newspapers, that is, more than one paper for Britain’s 12 million families. On the Sabbath the circulation is about 15 millions and evening papers sell nearly 7 millions. As the daily papers are all engaged in Sabbath work, and as the “Sunday” papers, while printed on the Saturday, are openly and avowedly produced for reading on the Lord’s Day, it need not be wondered at that these papers are the avowed, and some of them the bitter, enemies of the observance of the Lord’s Day. Satan has a mighty host ready at hand whenever he makes a move to break down the bulwarks which hath protected the observance of God’s holy day. No state has ever been able to mobilize its fighting forces with such celerity as Satan when he purposes to strike a blow at any of the bulwarks of religion.